


The Undead City

by Buio_Angelo



Category: Original Work
Genre: All misspells are intentional, People do not stay dead, The Undead City, Yes the three Timothys are different people, first original work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 10:33:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21848257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buio_Angelo/pseuds/Buio_Angelo
Summary: The city of Nevaeh, or the Undead City as the people Outside call it, is a very strange place.The reason why it's so strange? No one ever dies in there. At least, not permanently.Lean closer, I'll tell you a secret that no one above Nevaeh ground knows —There are two cities of Nevaeh, Undercity Nevaeh and Upper Nevaeh work together like a highly coordinated machine.For every person alive in Upper Navaeh, there would be his exact replica in the city below ground. They are brought up the same way and when one Upper citizen dies, The Rebred receives his memory and fills in the blank.All citizens in Nevaeh keep their immortality in such a way, and there is but one exception.Ever since Tim and Monty Stein were born, both perfect replicas for the Uppercity citizen Timothy Stein, Monty being the older twin and set as The Rebred, Tim was soon seen as a glitch, the "strange one".Lets see what happened to him — him, and all the people he was in association with.God bless the citizens of Nevaeh.
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 0 — Prologue

**Chapter 0 _Prologue_**

The tourists arrived on a sunny day in the valley, a heavy mist of sweat, body odor and expensive perfume clinging to the very air they breathe in, colorful silk and furs sticking out like a sore thumb in the earthy hues of the town. Local passersby gave them a very wide breadth and condescending glances from afar.

Old Nick would have been one of them passersby if he were twenty years younger, but he ain’t _Old_ Nick for nothing, and _Old Nick_ knew easy money when he sees it. “O’er there’s the market,” he told the chattering trail of people behind him, “lots o’ fruit this time o’ the year, there is. Lodgings can be arranged at the inn, ‘course, it would be thirty Idfuviu each.”

He grinned to himself as coins clattered by the handful into his money pouch. If tourists are good for anything, it would be their willingness to pay good money, and their firm belief that the old ‘uns, like Old Nick, knew more about the town than the young, and made more trusty tour guides. He’d be damned if the first part ain’t true, but there ain’t no way he’s not gunna milk that cow to the last drop.

As the tourists made for their rooms in the inn, Old Nick drank his cheap beer from the dirty inn mug and laid his coins out on the table for counting. Nine hundred Idfuviu this day, he’s making good business.

“Psst!”

He’s gotta get them down to the mines by the next day. Nasty bit of work that would be, he’d have to charge double. Maybe triple, his joints ain’t as strong as they used to be. Goddamn tourists, always asking to be taken to the mines. It’s the largest there is, sure, but judging from the way they flood to the darn place, it’s like it is _that_ different from all the other mines out there.

“Psst! Old man! Tour Guide!”

Old Nick grunted, turned. He squinted at the tourist in front of him. The young man took that as an invitation and slid into the seat beside him, grinning, leaned forward and whispered. “Say, Guide, what do you say if I want you to show me the City?”

 _Another one of those bloody upstarts._ “I’d say no. Ain’t nobody can get into the City, lad. You think nobody have tried before? And it’s more than a stretch o’ the legs from here, too. Keep wanting, or find another guide.”

That grin was still hanging on there like an annoying piece of spinach that he couldn’t pick out from between his teeth. “I can give you good money for just a proper look.” The man soothed, voice dipping into a lower octave, the grin turning ever more smug. “I can give you a sum so large that you cannot possibly refuse.”

Old Nick glanced at the man. Travel-worn clothing. Scuffed and muddied boots. Bruises under the eyes from fatigue. He snorted. “No is no, lad. Go by yourself and break your neck trying to get there.” He pointed out of the grimy window. Up the small steep mountain with the narrow, winding path. “There, I’d shown you the way, free of charge. Now go blather to someone else and leave me in peace.”

“Fifty thousand Idfuviu.” The man slung a gigantic leather sack over his shoulder and onto the wooden table, making it creak and protest against the sudden weight. “You're the best guide around here. Here’s twenty thousand, the rest is for when you get me up there.”

Old Nick untied the bag and peeked inside. Then he grinned, showing yellow, crooked teeth, the gold reflected in his beady eyes. “When do you want to go?”

The man grinned back. “Right now is a mighty good time.”

* * *

For all the man’s cheekiness and stubbornness, he proved himself to be the regular tourist wimp on the way up the mountain. “We took the long path. Why’d we take the long path? And there's _nettles_.”

“Shaddap and climb, laddie. You wanted to get a view alive, you take this path.”

“Are we there yet?”

“Aye, nearly there. Give it twenty more minutes.”

Finally, Old Nick pushed aside the nettles blocking his way and hoisted himself up to sit at the very peak of the mountain, pulling the man up after him, loose skin on thin wiry arms flexing with muscles. He waited for the man to catch his breath.

“You smell the stench?” Old Nick asked. He held up a bony finger. “No, don’t answer. ‘course you do. That sweet cloying scent? That’s man meat, is what it is. Fresh buried four days ago right where you are sitting, mine accident.” He cackled as the man scooted backwards with a horrified expression on that face, feeling the piece of spinach being tugged loose. “Now look up there.” Old Nick instructed. And the man’s expression gave way to awe.

Anyone with no knowledge of the City (But who doesn’t?) would have thought it a shining white fortress. High walls surrounded it, marble gleaming in the sun, giving the City an ethereal glow. A sparkling ribbon of moat draped over it almost casually. Lush green trees hugged the City, seeming to grow more vibrant in its presence. 

“That’s a piece of paradise, is the City.” Old Nick grinned, proud. “You don’t get this stench ‘cause _nobody_ ever die in there. It’s been here longer than the town has and there still ain’t one person dead. But of course you know that. It didn’t earn its name for nothing, now did it? _The Undying City._ We still send it provisions and such.”

The man licked his chapped lips. “How do I get in?”

Old Nick gave the man _a look._ “You bloody well don’t. Now hand the money over here.”


	2. Chapter 1 — Timmy & Monty, Udercity Nevaeh Academy

Dorm rooms in the Udercity Nevaeh Academy are grey-walled, identical beings packed with its underage citizens. The walls don’t have ears, but they are so extremely thin that should one should close the lights and wait for one’s eyesight to adjust to the darkness, one can see the lamplight, which is not allowed to be on during this time, emitting dully from the next dorm room.  
Two boys with identical brown hair and startling blue eyes – twins, occupied the small circle of light the lamp provided, one of which filling out one last sheet of an extracurricular assignment with ferocious speed.  
“Say, what if we arranged a fight-to-death in the middle of the school, and try to kill each other in front of everyone?” Tim lifted himself onto the desk and grinned at the one sitting behind it. “It’d be exciting, like Roman gladiators, except with half of the city watching. The one left standing gets glory! And gets to be the one that gets to be The Rebred and goes Upper Nevaeh instead of getting prize money, it would be so cool, don’t you think?” His heels knocked against the wood with every few words he says, and the desk emits a dull thud and wobbles a bit with every strike.  
The boy behind the desk hummed distractedly. He didn’t even look up from his exercise sheet. “Where did you learn the k-word, Timmy? The city has been rid of dying since the First Generation moved in, which you would know if you read that history textbook like you are supposed to.”  
Tim’s left heel knocked almost deliberately into the wooden side with force. “Yeah, yeah. But! Gladiators, Monty! Just think about it, an enormous arena built just for fighting, with tens of thousands of people witnessing the event! The book says that every inch of the ground is soaked with blood, don’t you think it’s awesome in a gruesome kind of way? Not even a little bit?”  
The boy named Monty then lifted his head and gave Tim a sharp look. “Death should only be exciting for the ones observing it or the ones anticipating it, and – Timmy, you haven’t been wandering around the teachers’ lounge, have you? I should know that there is not one book in the library with that content.”  
“I should have remembered that you had read every single book in the history section,” Tim rolled his eyes.  
“—randomly snooping around the teachers’ lounge is imprudent behavior even for you, Timmy. One of these days you are going to get caught—“  
“I know, don’t do it again, read all your books and prepare for quizzes and one day I might be able to take your place as The Rebred.” Tim quoted impatiently, “Honestly, you act more like the teachers than my twin. Mayor knows how many times I thought that you’d gone one step further than being a typical worrywart.”  
Monty cleared his throat. “I was going to say that poor planning should not be done in order not to get caught. Dr. Azarias gave me the teachers’ schedules before his lecture so we could work on that latest project in privacy. And I just have that one extra copy for you in the top drawer of your bedside table.”  
Tim paused abruptly, legs dangling off the edge of the desk limply. “Monty?”  
The sound of pencil scratching against coarse paper quickened, and Tim craned his neck around in time to see a sharp grin slip off Monty’s face. “Monty! Really?”  
“Have I ever lied to you, Timmy?”  
“Finally, finally you’ve surrendered to the dark side! From now on, I am no longer your evil twin, but your evil-er twin!” Tim felt his left pocket, and then the right, extracting from it a little notebook. Flipping to a random page, he took a pen from the desk and scribbled on it for a few seconds, “We should totally celebrate.”  
Three hurried knocks sounded on the wall to the left, Academy student code for watch out.   
Slap, slap, slap went a pair of flip-flops down the hallway. And then came the holler: “Lights out! Dorm 27, lights out, I say!”  
“The supervisor!” The twins scrambled to turn off the lamp, and waited with bated breath as the footsteps came closer and closer, pausing a bit before their dorm room, and finally fading away. “Let’s go to sleep,” Monty whispered.  
“But isn’t it way more exciting to hold a party right here right now under everyone’s nose?” Tim argued. “I do have some party hats Ethan sold me, somewhere…”  
“Then we’ll hold another of your parties tomorrow after lights out.” Monty hissed firmly. “I’ll persuade Ms. Johnson to give me one of those chocolate cakes that you like so much. We can even invite your friends.”  
“I don’t—”  
“Go to sleep, Timothy.”  
And then the huge grey monster that is the Academy dorm rooms finally fell silent.


	3. Chapter 2 — Timothy, Nevaeh Academy for Boys

Timothy Stein has been feeling a bit off lately. He hasn’t been suffering from any illnesses, in fact, he hasn’t felt this good in days. It’s more of a strange tingle on the back of his neck, like—  
“Tim.” Someone shook his shoulder. “Tim, you’re looking a bit pale, dude.” Tim glanced behind him. Regular hallway with its rows of lockers, student council election posters, and a bit of people. “It’s—nothing, Ethan. I’m perfectly fine.”  
\--Like he’s being watched. Every single minute.  
“I’m not gonna laugh if you want to back out,” Ethan clapped his shoulder. “Yeah, no, maybe a little bit. But 20 laps around the Gym’s not for everyone, you get what I mean?”  
“I’m no chicken, Ethan.” Timothy grinned at his humanoid grizzly bear of a best friend. What was he worrying about.  
“So, I got a hold of that history thesis from Dr. Azarias yesterday afternoon.” Ethan mentioned casually under his breath as he steered Timothy towards the changing room. “It’s mad tricky to get ahold of, but you’ve got the best friend discount. 100% off, per usual. And you owe me another favor.”  
“You’re saving my life right now.” Timothy told him very seriously. “—strike that smug grin off your face, I wish you unhappiness—I’ve been looking for that thesis for weeks. This is just in time for my history assignment—you got the right one, A detailed explanation of deaths during the middle ages, yeah?” They took a left turn into the changing room.  
“That’s the one.” Ethan confirmed. “I dunno why you are so hooked on people dying, I mean, no one’s ever died since Before Nevaeh, but yeah.”  
“That’s what I’m interested in!” Timothy insisted. “No one has ever died since Before Nevaeh, but we still know the word, isn’t it very worthy of thought? What would happen if death still strikes Nevaeh? What does death feel like? There’s so much things we don’t know, and I feel a bit prompted to dig at least a bit into it.”  
“Listen to Timmy boy, so enthusiastic, he knows exactly what he’s talking about. – I bet he has felt the stare, too~” A voice cut in from the side.   
The stare? Timothy’s neck tingled again and he reflectively straightened his back.  
“Ah, Arlo, you’re still alive.” Ethan grunted. “I’d thought you’d break the undying streak after that mess you made in the school, you absolute mad man. The headmaster’s face was this red.”  
“I had to test a theory, and the sewers just happened to be the most convenient place.” The blue haired teen waved him off dismissively before turning again to Timothy, leaning forward. “So, the stare, I’ve got three people right now claiming to have the feeling of ‘a malicious gaze set on them’, and so far two of them shows immense enthusiasm in their studies with a fifty four percent rise on commonly made mistakes, and another denies ever having felt it.”  
Timothy opened his mouth and didn’t know what to say.  
“What do you say I follow you around everywhere this week? You seem like excellent experiment material. I'll even pay you and everything.” Arlo pressed on.  
“I don’t even—“  
“That’s settled then. Thanks, Timmy boy, you’re a great guy and as your fairy godmother I hope you’ll never be friend-zoned. Toodles!”  
The silence rang loudly in the room for a few seconds after Arlo left. Timothy cleared his throat. “You know Arlo, always so unbalanced. God, sometimes I think he’d be sent to an asylum if not for his unparalleled intuition for when to appear sane.”  
“He’s always serious about his researches, though, even if they do turn out to be useless.” Ethan remarked. “Oh well, never mind any malicious gazes or not, I get them all the time when I first got here. Listen, we find who’s doing that, if there is somebody, then I’ll beat them up, and it’ll be just like old times.”  
“He’s probably making another rumor up out of boredom,” Timothy casted his eyes off to the side, “It won’t be for the first time. For our level of intelligence, I don’t expect us to find the culprit anyway. If there is one, well, let them stare.”  
“That’s exactly what I’d do if it was I!” Ethan laughed. “What are they gonna do, kill me?”  
Ethan’s expression froze a little bit as the now familiar tingle ran over the back of his neck again, he had the uncomfortable feeling that they’re sizing him up, like a farmer weighing his cattle, perhaps already calculating whether they could best the outburst of his strength in his last struggle for life, but he smiled at his best friend anyway.  
False alarm, false alarm. It’s just an illusion.  
No one’s ever died in Nevaeh yet, despite his curiosity on the subject, and right now it is a comforting thought.  
No one’s ever died in Nevaeh yet, so they are definitely not going to start dying now, that’s only common sense.  
Yeah.  
They’re perfectly fine.  
Yeah.


	4. Chapter 3 — Ethan, Nevaeh Academy for Boys

Ethan Dellal was having a relatively normal day. He managed to get copies of several rare books – they were photocopied but whoever it was that bought them for such a low price didn’t much care. It went a little bit weird when his friend Timothy let on that he’d been feeling that someone was staring at him lately, but he put it out of his mind when his girlfriend Lola paid him a surprise phone call before bed.   
“Okay. Okay, Thursday morning, got it. Yeah… I love you too. I’ll bring flowers. But I just got a big customer and I want to give you flowers. Okay, see you, bye.” He waited until Lola ended the call to set his phone on his side of the desk and leaned back onto his bed.  
The shower in the ensuite was still running, and the heavy mist floated out from underneath the door to drift around in the dormitory. It smells different today, citrusy. A bit sharp, a bit sweet, and there’s a bottom hint that turns his stomach a little bit.  
“I ran into Howitt today.” He spoke over the sound of the shower spray. “He goes by the nickname ‘snapper’, you know him?”  
The shower gave no reply.  
“Yeah, course you do. Wouldn’t be you if you didn’t.” Ethan snorted. “The moron who refused a half-prized deal. That was your doing, wasn’t it?”  
His roommate stayed silent. A small pool of water seeped out from the creak under the door.  
“I thought we had a deal.” He continued. “You stay off my regulars, and I keep my nose out of your businesses —By the Mayor, dude, have you finished showering yet? What are you doing in there, giving yourself a mani-pedi?”  
He lifted himself out of the bed with a grunt and walked over to the bathroom, knocking on the door. “Oi, just as a friendly suggestion, I really don’t think the girls would dig your new cologne, dude. Makes even me want to puke.”  
The bathroom gave him no answer.  
“Seriously, I’ve gotta go pee.” Ethan told him. “Pull your curtains tighter if you are afraid of me seeing you nude or something. I’m gonna get in on the count of ten.”  
He took the silence as a yes.  
The citrus scented mist crashed into him like a solid wave as he opened the door. I don’t even remember seeing so much red, he thought dizzily. How long has he been like this? He felt little bit strangely excited. And then the sharp undertone hit him hard in the stomach, bending him over, making him empty the contents of his stomach. He stumbled out of the door, half-closing it behind him.  
Walking into cooler air cleared his mind a bit, and it also made his head feel heavy and swollen. Do I have a fever, he thought, My knees don’t seem to be working.   
Wet footsteps sounded behind him. The citrusy stink surrounded him like a moist blanket. Ethan glimpsed a dark figure reflecting off the water on the floor, and his last thought was Timothy would be excited, and Oh shit Thursday morning—  
The figure lifted something over his head, bringing it down on Ethan’s back—

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Ethan Dellal,” The man read, “Expired two minutes ago from severe blunt force trauma to his back, spine broken, two ribs crushed. Location, Nevaeh Academy for Boys. Have a good look.” He slapped the file onto the other’s hand. “The third one this week and the second one today from your designated area, someday my hand might just slip and you can wave bye bye to your job.”  
“I-I don’t know what’s happening, sir.” The other cringed at the glance that he received, “B-b-but I can check.”  
“Look at you, shaking in your boots.” The man mocked, before waving the other off, “Go get Ethan Dellal of Undercity Nevaeh, do the standard procedures and everything. I want this done in two hours.”  
“Yes sir, thank you sir.” The other, relieved, bowed hurriedly before scurrying off.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The figure’s entire face was covered, and had a nervous aura about him. The shower was still running, and watching the red seeping through the water like smoke, he backed away from the two people on the floor slowly, shaking his head, letting out a choked-off noise. “I didn’t do this,” He muttered hoarsely, before fleeing out from the tinted bathroom window and out of sight.


End file.
